Carl’s Jr., Green Burrito OK Combo Plate

The belief of burger baron Carl N. Karcher that hamburgers and burritos should be served under the same roof was finally endorsed Tuesday by Carl’s Jr., the company he founded, and the owners of the Green Burrito chain.

The two firms agreed to convert more than 140 restaurants to let consumers choose from Carl’s burger-based menu and Green Burrito’s Mexican-style fast-food offerings.

Tuesday’s announcement ended a bitter disagreement that had pitted Karcher against Carl’s Jr. board members. CKE Restaurant’s board forced Karcher out as chairman in late 1993 and refused his demand to test-market Green Burrito’s menu at Carl’s Jr. restaurants.

“We’ve come the long way around the horn,” said Karcher, now CKE’s chairman emeritus. “I got pretty beat up over this, you know, and I’m thrilled to death that we got this [agreement] put together. I really feel that this is a new beginning for Carl’s Jr.”

The plan to add Green Burrito menu items at the 140 existing Carl’s Jr. restaurants was something of a surprise because CKE and Newport Beach-based GB Foods have been trading civil lawsuits in recent months. The suits alleged violations of an agreement governing a dual menu test at a handful of Carl’s Jr. restaurants.

In a joint news release issued Tuesday, the companies said the suits are being dismissed because executives now believe that “their best interests were in pursuing a mutually beneficial business relationship rather than litigation.”

However, CKE officials did not discuss the fate of Picante Grill, a separate Mexican-style menu that Carl’s Jr. was testing at an unspecified number of its restaurants.

Joint restaurants are becoming increasingly popular in the industry as competitors struggle to cut real estate development costs and make existing properties more appealing to more demanding consumers. CKE officials, for example, believe that the joint venture will bolster overall sales because Carl’s Jr. is most popular with the lunch crowd, while Green Burrito products sell best at dinner time.

PepsiCo Inc. recently announced that its Taco Bell and KFC subsidiaries would blend their menus at about 50 restaurants nationwide. Triarc Inc. in New York said last year that it would feature Arby’s roast beef menu items alongside Long John Silver’s seafood dishes at about 600 restaurants.